This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning filler tubes, bells, seals and valves on bottle filling machines, hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as filler mechanisms or filler tube mechanisms.
Bottle filling machines have been known for many years. In one very common type of bottle filling machine, the bottles are carried on platforms which are raised by a cam type of mechanism so that each bottle is raised to encircle a filler tube and sealingly engage with a filler bell which may be slidable or fixed on or around the filler tube. When a bottle is in the upper position, its mouth is sealed by a resilient seal at the top of the mount of the bell and liquid enters the bottle through the filler tube. Frequently, this liquid is under pressure, e.g. beer or carbonated drink, and occasionally a bottle will explode due to weak spots, cracks or abuse. An exploding bottle can cause glass fragments to adhere to the under side of the bell, filler and associated parts. It is obviously desirable to remove these glass particles so that they cannot enter a subsequent bottle. There is, therefore, a clear need for some way to ensure removal of glass particles from the filler tube mechanisms.
At present, it is known to use a spray of low-pressure water to clean the filler tube mechanisms but this is a rather slow and inefficient operation. The slowness of the operation results in lost production and hence is costly. Low-pressure water has been used in order not to have it spray into the bottle filling machine and get on or in other bottles in the filler machine. Low-pressure water may, of course, not remove all of the glass particles.
On existing flushing systems the spray angles of the water sprays are at the front infeed side of the filler machine causing water contamination of incoming bottles. Therefore the machine has to be stopped so as to prevent water getting into the bottles when flushing. In the system according to the invention, however, the water spray angle is preferably selected to be across the filler away from the infeed section of the filler machine. Therefore, the machine does not have to be stopped to eliminate water contamination of incoming bottles.
It is also known to spray water continuously at the filling machine for a period of time in hopes of removing glass particles from the affected filler but this is obviously very messy and not particularly efficient. As the water is sprayed from a single location some known arrangements spray the filler mechanisms for only a small fraction of a second each time they pass by, e.g. 0.1 second.